STATE OF MARYLAND v. DOUGLAS FORD BEY II
Court of Appeals, Hotten, March 27, 2017,
Sex Offense- CR 3-315– “Continuing Course of [Sexual] Conduct Against [a] Child” is charged by the time frame the conduct was occurring during, not by the individual crimes making up the conduct.

PLURALITY (3-1-3)
(Main- Hotten, Greene, Adkins)
(Judgment only- Watts)
(Concur- Getty with Barbera, McDonald- Agrees charge by sex act inappropriate; disagrees about rule of lenity for length of time)
Affirming CoSA

Another plurality from the CoA. This one joins as to the holding above, but splits over whether or not the rule of lenity applies w/regard to duration. And, possibly just because it was done to her opinion, Judge Watts only joins in the concurrence.

Facts
Bey sexually abused his daughter from the time she was 10 until she was 14, engaging in multiple episodes a week of vaginal intercourse as well as sex acts. At 13, he impregnated her. After taking her to have an abortion, he continued until she spoke about it to a therapist. The therapist reported the abuse to the authorities.
DNA from the aborted fetus showed Bey to be the father and a forensic sexual assault exam of Bey pursuant to a search warrant showed his daughter’s DNA on his penis.
In addition to other charges, Bey was charged with 3 counts of continuing course of conduct (one for rape, one for 2nd degree sex offense, and one for 3rd degree sex offense) for each year when the victim was 11, 12, and 13 (a total of 9 continuing-conduct counts for those years).
Bey was convicted of all charges and sentenced to 390 years in prison.
He then appealed, claiming that because there was only one continuing course of conduct, CR 3-315 only allowed him to be convicted once.

Law from the Case
Held: The Court of Appeals in this case split into two even groups, but both sides agreed that it was inappropriate to have separate charges for each underlying crime making up the course of conduct.
Continuing Course of Conduct Against a Child – CR 3-315 makes it illegal to engage in a “continuing course of conduct” involving 3 or more felony sex offenses against a child under 14 over the course of 90 days or more.
Continuing Course of Conduct Against a Child – (plurality and CoSA opinion affirmed here) – As long as the conduct was continuous, the defendant can only be sentenced once under CR 3-315.